4.6º as I write this morning and a projected high of only 20º for the day and nearly two-feet of snow on the ground. Now, that's what I call winter!

Kent Town Justice Peter J. Collin's mother Diane, passed away recently. If you'd like to pay your respects to the Judge and his family, visiting hours will be today at the Cargain Funeral Home on Fowler Avenue in Carmel from 2-4 PM and 7-9 PM tonight. Funeral services will be at 10AM tomorrow (Saturday, January 15th) at St. James the Apostle Church in the Hamlet.

If you're looking for something extra special to do this weekend you might try a sport called Base Jumping while wearing a wingsuit. It's all about controlled human flight and it's only for the bravest among you. Not me, mind you, I don't even like climbing step-ladders. But check this out whether it's for you or not as the scenery is stunning and it may just get your adrenaline flowing on this cold winter's day. Click here. It's safe for work though you may want to turn the music down and you'll certainly want to view this video in full-screen. By the way, if you suffer from vertigo, DO NOT WATCH THIS. You've been warned.

It's been a busy week at News That Matters. The biggest news is that an article, "Sometimes You Have To Point Fingers", about the shootings last weekend in Tucson, Arizona, has exploded to becoming the second most read article on the site (right behind "The 38 Billion Dollar Fee" an article about Bank of America's illicit practices,) and has garnered readers from all over the nation and the world.

For those who read News That Matters at the website or go to the site to read other articles that come in via our news feeds, you may notice a slight redesign. Things are a little easier to read there now.

Shop Putnam! Even with the snow on the ground and the temperatures in the single-digits, your mind is wandering to those tired-old walls in your place and how you've always wanted to change the color and freshen them up.

Believe it or not, now is the time to get that taken care of before spring/summer prices kick in! Call or write TaconicArts today for an estimate. You'll be happy you did. (And I won't have to eat the dog when the food runs out.)

Remember back in the day when the County Budget came around, past County Executive Bondi used to pick on one group as being responsible for threatened tax increases? One year it was "environmentalists" because they wouldn't allow the county to be paved over. Another year it was "unfunded mandates" with Medicaid being the primary causation?

Well, nothing has changed and our new County Executive Paul Eldridge is once again claiming that Medicaid is the largest chunk of the county budget. It is, I'm sure, but that's not the point.

The point is that after Bondi complained about Medicaid he also supported the construction of Senior Housing projects such as the Pulte Homes monstrosity in Carmel, knowing that at some point 25% of the seniors living there will one day need to tap into Medicaid causing the budget to rise accordingly. Well, Carmel now has 300 additional proposed senior housing units on the drawing boards compliments of Paul Camarda.

As we can see, the problem isn't necessarily Medicaid as much as it's Putnam County intentionally becoming the senior housing capital of the Hudson Valley.

Paul Camarda, in defending the Pulte Homes project, said that he was building for "our seniors" and not those from away but the truth is much different - as you all knew it would be - and we end up footing the bill.

So, a note to CE Eldridge: If you want to keep the Medicaid portion of the budget under control, stop building age-restricted housing all over the place. Yeah, it's that simple.

The Senator Who Shall Not Be Named really is. He's heralding a website that encourages people to post ideas to cut spending at the State level called youcutalbany.com. So I headed over to find out more about the website and guess what? The background information regarding it's registration is hidden behind a wall of anonymity.

At the bottom of the page it says, "New York State Senate Republican Conference" and the manager of the page is Keith McNab, a comfortably-paid information technology employee for the State Senate who is the son of Saratoga County's Clifton Park Republican Committee's officer Linda McNab.

So why is the domain registration information hidden? Perhaps they're just trying to make it a little more difficult to follow the course of nepotism. And perhaps the Senate might start cutting the state budget in their own house.

If you're planning to attend Nan Hayworth's "inauguration" ceremony in Orange county on Sunday you'd best fill out their security questionnaire otherwise you won't be allowed in. Ms. Hayworth's office says that it's not *really* a security questionnaire but a way of controlling the crowd expected as space is limited. Orange Hall, the location of the event, holds 400 people and was, according to her office, selected for its size. No weapons are allowed and bags will be randomly checked. It's funny; this wasn't a requirement until this week.

On January 12th police in Bradford, England, raided a home in which they suspected a marijuana growing operation. Using helicopters to fly over the town seeking "hotspots" on roofs and other buildings they ID'd a home worthy of a raid, phoned first (the cops there have manners!) then showed up at the house. And boy, were they ever embarrassed to find two heat lamps warming the family's pet guinea pigs. So now I have to ask, what did that cost?What's Going On?

Friday, January 7

AFA Battle of the Bands

5PM - 11PM - At Arts on the Lake. Route 52 in Lake Carmel. Co-sponsored by Alto Music! The AFA Recording Studio is holding a Battle of the Bands at Arts on the Lake. Bands will be judged on various categories to compete for a Grand Prize of 3-4 songs recorded with AFA. 2nd Place: 1 song worth of recording time. Chris O'Neil or Greg Schettino of AFA can be contacted at: AFArecordingstudio@gmail.com

Saturday, January 15

The Power of Making a Promise

11AM - Matthew Cossolotto (author of HabitForce! and creator of “Make A Promise Day”), will be speaking about The Power of Making A Promise – one of his Personal Empowerment Programs (PEPTalks) – at the Mount Kisco Public Library. Matthew is writing a book about the power of making a promise with a foreword by Jack Canfield of Chicken Soup for the Soul fame.

Short Play Lab - Good Things Come in Small Packages

7PM - CLOCKED OUT by Deb Towers, directed by Fidel Fonteboa; starring Deb Rodman & William Yuekun Wu. Two hard-core salespeople take a break from their workday only to discover they get more than what they bargained for.

MIKE’S NOSE by Fidel Fonteboa, directed by Maria Zadrima; starring Zulie Lozada and Fidel Fonteboa. A husband will say anything to keep his wife from finding out what he's doing on the Internet.

Winter Jazz with Michelle LeBlanc

7:30PM - At the Hudson House River Inn, 2 Main Street, Cold Spring, NY 10516. (845) 265-9355 or www.hudsonhouseinn.com Continues every Saturday Evening through February 26th.\

Bert Rechtschaffer Jazz Trio

9PM - Midnight - With Jeff Whalen on Sax and Lew Scott on Bass. At the Chill Wine Bar & Tapas, 173 Main Street in Beacon.

Sunday, January 16

Short Play Lab - Good Things Come in Small Packages

7PM - CLOCKED OUT by Deb Towers, directed by Fidel Fonteboa; starring Deb Rodman & William Yuekun Wu. Two hard-core salespeople take a break from their workday only to discover they get more than what they bargained for.

MIKE’S NOSE by Fidel Fonteboa, directed by Maria Zadrima; starring Zulie Lozada and Fidel Fonteboa. A husband will say anything to keep his wife from finding out what he's doing on the Internet.

The Magic of Imagination

8PM - Arts on the Lake proudly presents The Magic of Imagination with David Morey on Saturday, January 22, at 8:00 p.m. Morey and the audience will journey through a wonderland of magic, experiencing all types of magic, from illusion to storytelling, from sleight of hand to mind reading—a journey that will take the audience beyond the bounds of its imagination.

David Morey understands what it means to know his audience, to stay ahead of them, to read their minds. Evident of this understanding, his international business and political consultant work has helped elect twelve presidents on four continents and increased the revenue of Fortune 500 companies by the hundreds of millions of dollars. The connection between business and magic is simple, Morey says: “Frankly, the magicians I know, who are some of the best in the world, are the most innovative people I’ve ever met…. The higher forms of magic elevate you, take you to a higher plane, and, at least temporarily, heal what you are going through and what is challenging you.”

The magic of David Morey is woven throughout the fabric of his life. Since he was a young boy, when he saw his first magic show on the Ed Sullivan Show at four years old, magic found its way into his own imagination and heart. And after a 25-year break, Morey returned to his first love and has been performing at major venues—The DC Fringe Festival, President Obama’s Inaugural Ball, among others—ever since.

Tickets ($ 15.00 -- $10.00 [members]) to The Magic of Imagination with David Morey may be purchased in advance on the Arts on the Lake website: www.artsonthelake.org and reservations may be made by email to rsvp@artsonthelake.org or by phone: 845-228-2685.

Tuesday, January 25

Green Building Update: What to Expect for 2011

6PM - The Green Building industry is undergoing dynamic and sometimes controversial changes. In this seminar, Rick Alfandre and Cliff Cooper will present an overview of updates to rating systems, the regulatory environment, training systems, technologies and practices that will affect green building projects in the coming year.

About The Presenters: Our speakers will be Cliff Cooper, President of Cooper Associates, and Rick Alfandre', President of Alfandre Architecture.

Rick Alfandre', AIA, LEED AP-BD&C: Rick Alfandre, President of Alfandre Architecture, has been specializing in the field of environmentally responsive planning, solar design and energy and resource efficient building techniques for over 30 years. Rick is a Board member and Treasurer of the U.S. Green Buildings Council New York Upstate Chapter and is a founding member of the Hudson Valley Branch. In addition, Rick is a member of the SUNY New Paltz Business School Business Advisory Council (BAC) and is past president of the New Paltz Rotary Club.

Cliff Cooper, MS, CIH, LEED AP-BD&C: A board certified industrial hygienist, Mr. Cooper, President, Cooper Associates, is a specialist in building ventilation and indoor air quality and provides a range of consulting expertise from forensic investigation of building failures to ventilation and indoor air quality design in high performance and sustainable "green" buildings. In addition, Mr. Cooper routinely provides impartial health and safety evaluations involving chemical exposures, biological exposures, mold in buildings and occupational safety.

Tickets are $10 for advance sales to Chapter Members and Students, $15 for Members and Students at the door, and $20 for Non-members.

Wednesday, January 26

The Economics of Happiness

7PM - Join us for an evening with internationally recognized cultural commentator, author, and filmmaker, Helena Norberg-Hodge, as she presents her latest film, "The Economics of Happiness." After the film Norberg-Hodge will discuss how rebuilding smaller scale, ecological, local economies can help us rediscover those essential relationships, both with the living world and with one another, that ultimately give our lives meaning and joy.

The evening is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:30pm, event begins at 7pm. No reservations required, but we ask that you RSVP so we can anticipate attendance. For more information or to RSVP, please call 845.424.4800 or email garrison@garrisoninstitute.org.

Helena Norberg-Hodge is an analyst of the impact of the global economy on cultures and agriculture worldwide and a pioneer of the localization movement. She is the founder and director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC). ISEC's mission is to examine the root causes of our social and environmental crises while promoting more sustainable and equitable patterns of living. Fluent in seven languages, Norberg-Hodge was educated in linguistics and has lived in and studied numerous cultures at varying degrees of industrialization. Her experiences in Ladakh, a remote region on the Tibetan plateau, were crucial in enabling her to understand the impact of conventional development and globalization on people and the environment. Ms. Norberg-Hodge founded The Ladakh Project and helped establish several indigenous organizations in Ladakh including the Ladakh Ecological Development Group (LEDeG) and the Women's Alliance of Ladakh (WAL). She is the author of Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh, based on her first-hand experience of the effects of conventional development in Ladakh. Ancient Futures has been described as an "inspirational classic" by the London Times and together with a film of the same title, it has been translated into 42 languages. She is also co-author of Bringing the Food Economy Home and From the Ground Up: Rethinking Industrial Agriculture.

Friday, January 28

Snow is Good

7PM - CIES Talk. Most people pay attention to climate change in the summer, when faced with heat waves, hurricanes, and severe thunderstorms. In the northeast, climate warming is actually more marked in the winter, and the loss of snow cover can have a ripple effect on tree growth and groundwater recharge. Cary Institute scientist Dr. Peter Groffman will discuss how mild winters threaten soil productivity, plant growth, and freshwater resources. Event is free. Location: Cary Institute's auditorium, located at 2801 Sharon Turnpike (Route 44) in Millbrook, New York.

Thursday, February 10

Forest to Faucet

1AM - Noon - What does a watershed need to produce clean water? The Hudson River Watershed Alliance and the Hudson River Estuary Program present a new Geographic Information System mapping tool that can help identify important watershed attributes. Donald Steinmetz of the Highlands Environmental Research Institute will present this new GIS tool, based on data developed by the US Forest Service. Fran Dunwell and Scott Cuppett from the Hudson River Estuary Program, and Jennifer Grossman from the Highlands Coalition and Open Space Institute will discuss the importance of clean water and watershed management in the Hudson Valley. To Register Contact Barbara Kendall, HRWA Coordinator: barbara@hudsonwatershed.org 914 474 2759 Snow Date: February 17